abstract / Surgery / Master / Master of Philosophy

abstract / Biochemistry / Master / Master of Philosophy

To determine whether exposure to simulated microgravity (SMG) affects cranial neural crest (CNC)-derived tissues, zebrafish embryos were exposed to SMG starting at one of three developmental stages corresponding to CNC migration. Juvenile and adult fish were analyzed after exposure to SMG using statistics and geometric morphometrics for changes in melanophore surface area and number, and changes in skull morphology. Analyses reveal an initial increase in the surface area of melanophores present on the dorsal view of the juvenile skull and a decrease in melanophore number over the period of a week. Additionally, buckling is observed in CNC-derived frontal bones in juvenile fish after exposure. The effects on the melanophores are transient and the effects on CNC-derived bones are short-term. Surprisingly, severe long-term effects occurred in mesoderm-derived bones, such as the parasphenoid. In summary, exposure to SMG affects both CNC- and mesoderm-derived tissues in the juvenile and adult zebrafish head.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-106) Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-137).

No description available.

No description available.

Next, the influences on the migration of neural crest cell from the microenvironment of the hindgut through which the neural crest cells migrate were studied. An organ culture system was established to recombine different gut segments together at E11.5 for gut culture in order to trace the migration of neural crest cells from the midgut of the +/+ or Dom/+ embryo to the hindgut of the same or different genotypes. At E11.5, the midgut of both +/+ and Dom/+ embryos had already been fully colonized by neural crest cells, thus an explanted midgut segment (donor midgut) could serve as the source of the neural crest cells, while the caudal half of the hindgut (recipient hindgut) acted as the recipient of the neural crest cells from the donor midgut segment because at this stage, the caudal half of the hindgut was completely devoid of neural crest cells. After three days of culture, when a segment of midgut from the +/+ embryo was used as the donor of migratory vagal neural crest-derived cells and combined with an aneural segment of the hindgut (segment without neural crest-derived cells) from Dom/+ or Dom/Dom embryos, neural crest-derived cells from the midgut segment successfully crossed the combination junction and migrated normally along the hindgut segment to reach its caudal end within a normal developmental time frame. However, the migration of neural crest-derived donor cells from the Dom/+ midgut segment was abnormal in the recipient hindgut with a genotype of +/+, Dom/+ or Dom/Dom as evidenced by the retarded rostrocaudal progression of the vagal neural crest-derived cells and the reduced number of migratory cells in the recipient hindgut segment. These results thus indicate that the migration of the vagal neural crest-derived cells is minimally influenced by the migratory environment of the hindgut of the Dom embryo, and that the neural crest cells themselves may be defective in migration leading to the retarded migration in the hindgut of Dom mouse embryos. / The vagal neural crest cells originating from the region of the neural tube adjacent to somites 1 to 7 migrate along defined pathways to the gastrointestinal tract and then colonize the gut to give rise to the majority of neurons and glia of the enteric nervous system. Mutation of Sox10 in the Dominant megacolon (Dom) mouse, which is an animal model of Hirschsprung's disease, leads to aganglionosis (absence of ganglia) in varying lengths of the hindgut. To investigate the underlying cellular mechanism of aganglionosis, the migration of vagal neural crest cells from the neural tube to the gut (pre-enteric migration) in Dom mouse embryos at E8.5 was firstly traced with extrinsic cell markers, such as wheat germ agglutinin gold conjugates (WGA-Au) or fluorescent dye DiI. After the vagal neural crest cells entered the gut at E9.5, their migration was then followed by the examination of the expression of specific markers for undifferentiated neural crest cells with immunohistochemical staining. It was found that, although vagal neural crest cells in embryos of the three genotypes examined migrated along similar pre-enteric pathways at a similar migratory rate, the numbers of neural crest cells in embryos heterozygous (Dom/+) and homozygous (Dom/Dom) for the Sox10 mutation were significantly reduced when compared with the number of neural crest cells in wild-type (+/+) embryos. After vagal neural crest had entered the gut and from E10.5 onwards, no neural crest-derived cells were found in the gut of Dom/Dom embryos, and the migration of neural crest cells along the Dom/+ gut was significantly retarded from E12.5 onwards as compared with the migration in stage-matched +/+ embryos. / To further trace the cause of defective migration of neural crest cells in the Dom embryo, the proliferation and survival of neural crest cells were investigated with BrdU labeling and TUNEL assay. It was found that, although there was no obvious difference in the proliferating ability of vagal neural crest cells in embryos of all the three Dom genotypes studied during the pre-enteric migration and the migration in the gut, more apoptotic neural crest cells were found along the pre-enteric migratory pathway of Dom/Dom embryos than Dom/+ and +/+ embryos. Therefore, the decreased surviving ability, but possibly not the reduced proliferating ability, of neural crest cells during their pre-enteric migration may be partly responsible for aganglionosis in the hindgut of the Dom mouse. / Wang Liang. / "June 2006." / Adviser: W. Y. Chan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-03, Section: B, page: 1380. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-307). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.